August 28, 2019

What Is Amazon DSP and How Does it Work?

In September 2018, Amazon rebranded all AAP, AMS, and AMG features under “Amazon Advertising.” Now, the Amazon Advertising Platform is called Amazon DSP.

DSP allows advertisers to buy video and display ad placements to engage customers both on and off Amazon.

These ads can be found in many different forms, including mobile banner ads, mobile interstitial ads, desktop display ads, in-stream video ads, and image and text ads. Any vendors and third-party sellers can use Amazon DSP to create brand awareness and retarget potential customers.

Amazon has partnered with third-party sites so sellers can place ads in numerous locations across the internet. This is an excellent opportunity for brands that are awareness-driven and hoping to extend their reach.

While search advertising aims to increase sales and awareness from people already looking for products similar to yours (who are likely to convert), DSP allows you to target a customer at the very beginning stages of the research process or someone who matches the right demographic for your brand.

There are two main ways to use Amazon DSP.

Programmatic display

Amazon DSP makes it easy for you to target audiences through Amazon-exclusive sites, open exchanges, and Amazon Publisher Services. You can use Amazon’s first-party data to build audiences, gaining insights into shopping behaviors on any Amazon properties.

You can layer many segments together to target particular prospects, and DSP will give you an estimated reach based on how many impressions you may get per day.

Retargeting strategies

One of the most unique aspects of DSP is its ability to let brands retarget shoppers who have viewed their products on Amazon or visited their websites.

You can reach out and re-engage these people by using ASIN and pixel retargeting. Pixel retargeting is when you track potential customers with pixels placed on your website and linked to your Amazon DSP account. This means that you’re “following” those customers so you can show them your product ads.

ASIN retargeting is similar. However, you track from your product page on Amazon instead of your website.

The Amazon DSP retargeting capabilities can help you:

Cross-sell complementary products to site visitors or previous customers.

Re-engage people who have visited your site to increase brand awareness.

Educate previous site visitors or customers about new products they may like.